Bradley praises Shakur, but fans want action on PPV

Tim Bradley is amazed at the “great fundamentals” that Shakur Stevenson will display at Ring 6 on January 31 against WBO light welterweight champion Teofimo Lopez.

Will fans tune out?

Bradley believes fans will be in for a real treat when Shakur (24-0, 11 KOs) boxes all night in this main event DAZN PPV. The price of the event is still unclear.

Since it’s on pay-per-view, fans are going to want to see action in the main event, not the chess match that Bradley is looking forward to watching. Fans want broken faces and blood, not technical chess matches from a fighter using the old school method.

“Shakur Stevenson, you already know what he brings to the ring. Defense first. “You get nothing. I’m going to get mine when I get mine, but you’re not getting anything,” Tim Bradley sided channeltalking about Shakur Stevenson’s title challenge against Teofimo Lopez.

Unless Shakur chooses to fight stationary like he did against William Zepeda, he’s going to keep the fight at long range all night long, jabbing and throwing single shots. If Lopez is aggressive, which he usually isn’t, this will be an entertaining matchup to watch.

That’s not his style. He is the opposite of Zepeda. Stevenson chose not to run away from him because he would be tracked down if he tried.

“You might see this fight as boring, but it’s going to be one heck of a technical fight that I can’t wait to see. I can’t wait to see this fight,” said Bradley.

Well, fans are hoping it’s not a “technical fight” because they want action, not a repeat of the lackluster fights on the Times Square card earlier this year in New York. This was the card in which Teofimo boxed his way to a boring 12-round decision over Arnold Barboza Jr.

Younger fans want mayhem

Bradley is an example of the older generation of fans who enjoyed the Mayweather style. The younger generation has no patience for boring hit-and-miss chess matches. They consider pure boxers to be from a bygone generation best forgotten. For boxing to compete in this era, it must involve entertaining fighters. It’s just the reality.

“You’re going to see big fundamentals (Shakur Stevenson’s hit-and-don’t-hit) versus that explosive stuff,” Bradley said.

Teofimo didn’t look explosive in his last fight against Barboza Jr. not. He used the same defensive style that Shakur does. The last time Lopez was explosive was in 2019, when he knocked out Richard Commey in the second round. He hasn’t looked explosive in any of his fights over the last six years.